Eliot Spencer
Eliot Spencer, played by Christian Kane, is a former soldier of fortune turned retrieval specialist as a member of the Leverage team. A man of many talents, little is known about his past aside from a shadowy military background. His character serves as a gallowglass, an elite warrior who protects and aides an aristocratic leader, such as Nate. Eliot's role on the team to protect the individual members, and particularly, to get them out of trouble faster than they get into it. Many of his adversaries underestimate him, as Sterling discovers in The Zanzibar Marketplace Job. Eliot is a skilled fighter with a razor sharp mind and zen-like demeanor. He prefers hand-to-hand combat to guns, for which he has an active dislike, despite his skills as a marksman. Eliot also has some surprising skills. He is a talented gourmet chef, and claims to grows his own food. When asked about Eliot and his development, Christian Kane replied, While not an actor like Sophie, Eliot can blend into his roles easily when called on to play the role of grifter. Although he worked alone for years, Eliot slowly grown to trust being on a team. Eliot's relationships with the individual members of the team vary, and are still developing. He respects Nate as a leader, has a friendly rivalry with Hardison, and with Parker, while her behavior perplexes him, he trusts her to do the job. During an actors' panel at Con-Con 2010, Kane explained that he based Eliot on B.A. Baracus from The A-Team, saying, "I just decided he was gonna be pissed at everybody." For inspiration, he purchased the "iPity" application for his iPhone, which will play a random phrase by Baracus. Skills Eliot Spencer is very well versed in the distinctiveness of certain organizations. He has a very distinctive knack at it, and it is often used as an inside reference. *Numerous Fighting Styles - Unparallelled hand-to-hand fighting ability considering he was able to take out 4 armed guards in the time it took Hardison to drop a bag *Fixer (often working backup in the con to clean up messes, either physically or in execution, or in a supporting role to the "Inside Man"), he can play the "Inside Man" but leaves that job to Sophie Devereaux. ::A similar asset of Eliot's is the tendency for people to underestimate him. (Maggie Collins noticed this in "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job") This allows Eliot to surprise his opposition when he shows his true skills and talents. *Survival in Hostile Environments *Gourmet Chef *Calm demeanor *Lurking *Ladies' Man *Is exceptional at darts *Commercial Semi Tractor-Trailer Driver *Singer/Guitar player, he had a fan club and a bunch of fans (who had been quite an obstacle for him) - He sang well enough to not need Hardison's autotuning. This episode marks the first time we have seen Eliot nervous, so much so that Parker startles him for the first time ever. However, despite being nervous he still managed to get the attention of a music executive. *Weapons expert *Baseball superstar, he had a sandwich named after one of his alias's due to an excellent home run *Knife expert - doesnt matter if it's cutting an onion or cutting through 8 Yakuza in 4 seconds. Apparently, this expertise with knives stems from his very attractive home economics teacher in high school . He has dealt with cleaver welding Triad members before *Familiar with hostage negotiations - he is able to list the 3 types of calls one can get after the first hostage call *Skilled Marksman - Despite the fact he dislikes guns, Eliot is a very skilled marksmen, as he took on several of Damian Moreaus men with only two guns. He was even able to shoot one of them without looking at the target. *Familiar with the 9 places professional killers will use to deliver an injection to make a murder look like a heart attack – he spots the giveaway mark under the fingernail *Very good spatial awareness and sense of direction - was able to calculate where Hardison and he was and what direction they should head in even though he was imprisoned in a van *Knows how to throw trackers off his scent - He rubbed skunkweed on his clothing and left blood off the trail. He claims to have down this before whilst handcuffed to a dead man *Bombs and Bomb Disposal - Talked Sophie through it when she has one in her hands . He can also make bombs out of fertilizer and molasses *Very well travelled - has been in many, many countries. *Diversely knowledgable - Able to recognize a Russian man by a footprint in the snow and discern static noise from a recording as from military satellites. Languages * Hebrew * Iranian - Didn't speak it but seemed to understand it) * Italian * Arabic * Russian Weaknesses *Lack of knowledge/experience in cutting edge technology *Can be slightly paranoid due to his spy/black-ops history Accomplishments *Helped liberate Croatia. Notable Episodes Season 1 * "The Nigerian Job" * "The Wedding Job" * "The Two-Horse Job" * "The Bank Shot Job" Season 2 * "The First David Job" * "The Tap-Out Job" * "The Order 23 Job" * "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job" * "The Three Strikes Job" Season 3 * "The Studio Job" * "The Gone Fishin' Job" * "The Underground Job" * "The Rashomon Job" * "The Ho Ho Ho Job" * "The Big Bang Job" * "The San Lorenzo Job" Season 4 * "The Carnival Job" * "The Experimental Job" * "The Radio Job" Relationships with Other Characters Overall In the family dynamic of the team, Eliot often plays the role of the oldest son. He is much more aware of the con than his "siblings", Parker and Hardison. But overall, Eliot is the defender and enforcer of the team. He'll put his own safety and well being way after his "family". Although he contributes a lot, he doesn't like to take credit for protecting his 'family' as he thinks that it is his job. He cares for them silently. Alec Hardison Eliot and Hardison clash often, in the first season they were rivals (Mind vs. Muscle). But as they both have developed an appreciation for the other's skills, they share more of a sibling rivalry. And Eliot does enjoy picking on Hardison. Eliot is often heard saying a catch phrase: "Damn it, Hardison!" Parker Eliot is often baffled by Parker's behavior, but at the same time is very protective of her; a good example of this is in the future job where Eliot offered his services to tear off the psychic's arms. Sometime in Season 2, he helped train Parker in hand-to-hand mixed-martial-arts. He also loves to annoy her and make fun of her the way a playful elder brother would. He is someone Parker trusts to have her back as he never let anyone or anything hurt her. Sophie Devereaux Here is where Eliot breaks away from the "Eldest Son" dynamic. The relationship between Eliot and Sophie is not mother to son. The two operate more like peers. Sophie likes to press Eliot's buttons, especially in episodes like "The Reunion Job". {C When Sophie's absent for Season 2, Eliot starts to bridge the gap, which comes to fruition in "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job". Nathan Ford Eliot knows his place in the team. He also knows that Nate is the leader and brains of the team. But when Nate goes over the line, either he or Sophie calls him on it. Still, when Nate asks Eliot to put his body on the line, Eliot does not back down from the task. He claims on the first episode the reason for staying was to make sure Ford did not fall off the horse again. While others on the team observe Nate on his reactions to them, Eliot observes Nate's reactions to the others. At key moments in their relationship, when Nate challenges to walk away, Eliot says that he can't and will back Nate up all the way down. When Nate agrees to take down Damien Moreau, Eliot silently looks for ways to take him down without endangering his family. Other Characters Aimee Martin Eliot is a ladies man, and halfheartedly brags about his exploits. However, Aimee is one girl who got the closest, as he gave Aimee a "promise ring". That relationship was rekindled in "The Two-Horse Job" but nothing really came of it. In "The Studio Job", Eliot confesses that he promised to be there for her (presumably Aimee) whenever she needed him. But he also made the same promise to the United States Government; and found out he could not make that same promise to two people. Presumably, Eliot went to join the military, expecting Aimee to wait, and she couldn't. Notes * Eliot has a recurring inside reference, as he can identify organizations and items from their distinctive styles. Trivia *According to Sterling's people, Eliot is wanted in five countries, including Myanmar, which has a half a million dollar bounty on his head. **According to Eliot, he has a price on his head in three countries. **Eliot also suspects he has a Fatwā. *Is in possession of a United States Air Marshal badge, which he has used on more than one occasion to get an air flight. *Dabbles in Chess. *His personal vehicle is a gray Chevy Silverado pickup truck but he also owns a red Dodge Challenger modifided and used in The Boost Job. *When he was a child, he closed himself in a small, dark shed for a few days to get rid of his claustrophobia. *Grows his own food. *Hates beets. *Sleeps only 90 minutes a day. * Displays sympathy and anger in "The Order 23 Job" toward a young boy (Randy Trent) who is beaten by his father (Randall Trent). Though this might have indicated he suffered abuse when young, the DVD commentary for the episode revealed that his motivation for his actions is that he doesn't like people who beat children. *Taught Parker several Mixed-Martial Arts moves, allowing her to take on a more physical role in the team. *Eliot does not own a Television. *He mentions in The Miracle Job that "my nephew would like Bibletopia", indicating he has at least one sibling with a male offspring. *In High School, even though Eliot was the football team's quarterback, he took Home Economics. It is where he learned an appreciation about knives, and other things. *Previous girlfriends mentioned in the show (aside from Aimee Martin): a neurologist, a flight attendant, a Japanese police woman, "lots of models", Mikal Dayan, and Kaye Lynn Gold. *It is revealed in The Big Bang Job that Eliot has worked with Damien Moreau in the past before. The "worst thing he ever did in his life, he did for Damien Moreau". *Was a Commander in the San Lorenzo military and was once hired to kill General Lawrence Flores. *Eliot's car was modified and used by the team in The Boost Job. *In the Last Dam Job, he states that before he killed a man, "he had God in his heart, and he had a flag on his shoulder." and "he has not seen that kid for 10 years." *According to the word of Dean Devlin, Elliot's was supposed to have an Uncle Henry in Santa Barbara refering to Psych. However since an episode of Psych had Shawn saying that he doesn't want to miss the season finale of Leverage because of a case the whole possible epic crossover never happened. Character Background Links * http://www.tnt.tv/series/leverage/characters/?contentId=41357 References Spencer Category:Hitters Category:Protagonists